(Cherez ternii k zvezdam). Boldly going where no man has gone before, the starship Pushkin finds an abandoned vessel in deep space filled with the decaying bodies of humanoids. There is, however, one surviving member of the crew, a gynoid named Niya who seeks the help of earthlings to restore her now severely polluted home planet, Dessa, to its natural splendor. Richard Viktorov's collaboration with sci-fi writer Kir Bulychyov has undeniable camp appeal, with its abundance of mod leisure-wear outfits, cosmic mercenaries, and bionic women (not to mention a humanoid midget capitalist, the villain responsible for running Dessa into the ground), and it was pitched to the 1982 Soviet teen audience as skillfully as the Star Trek film series was pitched to its American counterpart. However, this deliriously emotional movie (known to Mystery Science Theater fans as Humanoid Woman) is also visually ravishing and, in its own unique way, deeply affecting.

• Written by Viktorov, Kir Bulychyov. Photographed by Aleksandr Rybin. With Yelena Metyolkina, Vadim Ledogorov, Uldis Lieldidz, Yelena Fadeyeva. (118 mins, In Russian with English subtitles, Color, 35mm, From Seagull Films)